There is a location outside of Aztec, New Mexico, now known as Yeager’s Leap or Crash Canyon, but before Super Bowl Sunday, 2018, it was a beautiful but nondescript area. On a recent Sabbath, about 30 members of the Piñon Hills Church in Farmington, New Mexico, ventured out to see this place that they agree should be called Miracle Canyon.
Led by the miracle man himself—Jeremy Yeager—and his wife Danette, the group visited the site where Yeager fell approximately 50 feet and then rolled another 100 feet. He was biking with his friend Dr. Doug Parks when his ride came to a sudden and violent end.
Yeager saw a small ledge near the rim of the canyon, which he thought he could ride over. He remembers his pedal clipping the top of the ledge and sending him off the cliff. Parks hastily dialed 911 as he ran to the spot and watched Yeager take his last couple of rolls before stopping and lying motionless.
The rescue team arrived and found Yeager in surprisingly good condition—at least for someone who just fell and rolled the distance he did. They set up a tripod system and lowered a basket with which they were able to get him out of the canyon and on his way to the hospital.
Yeager’s injuries included a broken clavicle, six broken ribs on his right side and another eight on his left, a fully collapsed right lung and partially collapsed left lung, cracked L1 vertebrae, a broken pelvis in four places, and a concussion. He also sustained a puncture wound from a stick embedded in his chest, numerous scratches and scrapes, a badly bruised ankle, and several broken teeth.
Just under three months later, Yeager was cleared to go back to work delivering trash cans for Waste Management. Though he’d only been employed by the company a few months before the accident, they stood by him throughout his recovery.
Yeager’s last recollection until several weeks after the fall was yelling, “No, no, no” while falling. He still has little recollection of the event, but he has otherwise made a full recovery. On his first visit to the scene, Yeager felt overwhelmed with the thought that he should be looking down at a memorial. Yeager, Danette, their friends and the Piñon Hills Church family are grateful to God that was not the case.
Ron Price is a member of the Piñon Hills Church in Farmington, New Mexico.
